Falling For My Husband (British Billionaires) (9 page)

I was knackered and beyond ready to call it a night.

“You can stay the night here. I can guarantee that I won’t even cop a feel until you beg me a few times. Then, I’m afraid, I’ll have to give in.” His blue eyes mocked me while I simply rolled my eyes at him.

It was time that I lived a little. It was time to have fun. It wasn’t like I was going to shag him. No, of course not… but I missed being held. A lot. “I need a spare toothbrush and a shirt I can sleep in.”

“You’re quite sure that you’ll be able to resist me all night?” he teased as he helped me to my feet.

“I will be in a coma soon, so you can forget about any of that,” I muttered, yawning.

He led us upstairs while his arm comfortably rested on my hip.

“There are clothes that are new in the next room. You can get whatever you need so you can go straight to work tomorrow.” He pointed towards the room on the left. “I remember you mentioning that you always went to work early so I have to ask what you eat for breakfast? I’ll make sure I have it ready before you’re even awake.”

This was a different side to Clive—the caring, attentive side of him—and, even though I’d barely spent that much time with him, I found myself liking the man.

It might not be on the same scale as Callum, but still, it was progress.

I did get what I wanted, though. I was held all night long. For me to even admit that he acted like a true gentleman, truly surprised me.

Clive didn’t even dare attempt once. That alone placed him in my top list. However, when I woke up the next morning to a full English breakfast and freshly brewed coffee, I was swaying towards him.

His persistence to drive me to work as he acted like the man in my life, really made me think long and hard.

Yeah, I definitely liked Clive Barrington. Now, what did I plan to do about it?

Chapter 12

Stella

Patience was one of the key ingredients in running a PR firm. Today, it seemed, that I didn’t have any tolerance for spoilt debutants and their holier than thou mothers.

We were planning to have a ball with ten princesses turning eighteen. The event was in three weeks time, and yet, they wouldn’t let me make a decision without consulting them with every single detail. They had to have their own caterers chosen or how they wanted each waiter to look like Abercrombie models. Did they know how difficult it was to find twenty perfect looking male specimens in less than a month? On top of this specific dilemma, they had a steep budget.

It was only ten-thirty in the morning and I was ready to go home and sleep the day away.

“Do you need me to get you some coffee and aspirin?” Sienna Richards—now Knightly—my intern/assistant for the day, offered with sympathy in her eyes.

I could tell she was drowning with me.

“I need a vacation. This is killing me,” I muttered under my breath. Listening to the mothers discuss about tidbits when we were supposed to be done and over this subject weeks ago was making my survival difficult.

After another minute of high-pitched idiocy, Sienna and I excused
ourselves to get some refreshments. Once we were at the table laid out with refreshments and snacks bar, I sighed with relief. “This job can be taxing at times. How do you find it so far? Is this what you want to do for the rest of your life?”

Her gold-green eyes lit up. “Honestly? I like putting events and parties together, but right now, I’m not all that sure.”

“Yeah, these are far in between, but when they do come up, it’s very draining.” I studied her beautiful face, wondering how she got to nab a man like Knightly. “Congratulations, by the way. I wasn’t aware you were dating Blake Knightly.”

Sienna blushed. “Thank you. I don’t normally name-drop him. He was a friend before things shifted into something serious.”

“I met him a few times.” I grinned. “I admit, I was tongue-tied for the most part. The man is bloody gorgeous! How do you even function around him, let alone marry the man himself.”

“He can be very intimidating.” Sienna took a china plate and placed mini cakes on it before she glanced at me with a raised brow. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but are you dating Clive Barrington?
Blake’s cousin? There were photos on the internet of you and Clive leaving his apartment this morning.”

My eyes bulged out. Internet?
Me?
Fucking shit. “You’re joking.”

She shook her head, biting her lip, serious about this information.

“Bugger. Bugger. Bugger,” I groaned. “How in God’s name did I forget that he was a pap favorite?
How?
How!”

Shitty shit. This day was getting worse.

For some reason, I had an inkling that my day was just starting. The worst was yet to come.

An hour and half later, I was back in my office, nursing a throbbing headache when by phone beeped, indicating a text message arrived.

Derek:
You’re dating a playboy? You’d be better off with me! I feel insulted that you would rather be with someone like Clive Barrington than be with me!

I barely finished reading the text when my door opened. “Stella you’re all over the internet!” Luciana breezed through my office,
iPad in hand as she showed me clips and articles about me. “Everyone’s talking about you and how you didn’t come out of Clive’s house until the next day and how he dropped you off to work. They even have a countdown to see how long it’ll last!”

How rude.
And mean
. Did these people have anything better to do? “Wow, news spreads fast around this town, huh? Four fucking hours and I’m an instant celebrity.”

“They’re dubbing you as the Lonely Heiress.”

I made a sour face. “How fitting.” I gave Luciana two minutes before I kicked her out of my working space.

This wasn’t fun at all.

I huffed out a frustrated grunt and then placed my forehead against my desk. “
Aaaand it keeps getting better!
” I muttered, closing my eyes as I took deep breaths.

“
For you
maybe.”

I immediately shot to my feet when I heard the familiar voice. “Callum,” I whispered, breathless.

He strode before me, just a few inches apart, before he inserted his hands inside his pockets. He had his poker face on, assessing me thoroughly. “Is Clive one of your many men, Stella?”

“We’re getting to know each other.”

Why was he interrogating me? I caught him fucking another woman two nights ago. I inwardly flinch when I recalled the humiliating experience of getting caught watching them go at it like rabbits. “Who I date is seriously none of your concern.”

“You were a virgin two weeks ago! Now you go around town dating a man who is notorious for having two girlfriends at the same time! Not to mention that he greatly enjoys the two in and out of the bedroom. Together.” His dark eyes flashed. Dark. Primitive.

He was angry. Great, ‘cause I didn’t care.

I wasn’t going to sit back and wait until kingdom come to enjoy my sexuality. “I’m twenty-two, about to turn twenty-three soon. It is a prime age to experience, experiment or what of it.” I raised my brow, goading him. “
And your point is what exactly?
”

“My point?” He charged towards me, pushing me backwards until my butt cheeks hit the edge of my desk. “
My point, Stella?
” he gritted out. “Had I known that you were going to ‘experiment’ with the likes of Clive Barrington, I wouldn’t have granted your wish.” His heated eyes dropped lower, noting the erratic pulse in my throat as his eyes slid lower, watching my breasts rise and fall in quick succession. “Experiment with me.”

No. Not after what I’d witnessed with that redhead. “Not with you.” I shook my head.

“Decline me again.”

I already did. “I don’t want you, Cal. Please stop this.”

He pressed his hips against mine, making me feel his epically solid state. I almost convulsed at the feel of him
this
close to me. It certainly muddled my brain function.

My breath caught when I felt his thumb making circles on my belly button at the same time that his hot breath in my ear sent tingles everywhere. “Are you quite sure?”

Callum was pressing his hardness directly above my pussy and I was panting, excited and yet, needing to prove a point that I wasn’t like that redhead on his dining table.

“Still am.”

He caged me with his body, unyielding. “How many men have you had since me, Stella?”

Chapter
13

Callum

“Still am.”

Her breath caught as I softly blew air on her ear, as I let my bottom lip caress the side of her neck. The weakening woman slightly shook, like an unbidden prey; she anticipated my attack, to be wholly consumed by me, by my touch.

Clive Barrington.

The name alone brought bitter taste on my tongue. He lured Zara once and I wasn’t going to let him do the same thing with Stella.

Two weeks.

It took everything in me not to contact her because I was busy trying to convince myself that she was young, and thus needed to figure out her feelings for Derek. I was also constantly reminding myself that had her feelings changed; she was going to come to me. How wrong was I? Apparently, I was off by a long shot. “How many men have you had since me, Stella?”

It was a crass question, but if she was prancing around town with Barrington, which could mean only one thing… that she got a healthy dose of exploration herself.

“Enlighten me, Callum.
How many have you had since me?
Then you might just get what you’re demanding from me.”

My nose flared. “What you witnessed, was the only time.” Not that I wasn’t interested it about sex because I surely was, the problem was the woman I had to do it with. The redhead was a test I had to go through, to convince myself that I wasn’t losing my manhood over a virgin who no longer wanted, or needed me. It was to show that I was in control.

When things started heating up, I was grateful that I still had it in me, but all those monumental emotions eroded the second my gaze caught hers.

Until then, I was convinced that Stella didn’t fancy me, but when she came to visit in my home, though her excuse was plausible, for some reason, my gut feeling was telling me that there was more to it, that Stella was lying about the real reason why she came to see me that night.

When I came after her and along with that expected strained goodbye, I knew I should let her go and let her live her life, like how she planned it to be.

It thought it then that was
me being all magnanimous, because I was not one to back down when I was being challenged by a woman. In fact, I thrived on the chase…but then life handed me Stella von Berg, and now I know nothing will ever be the same again.

Reluctant she may be, but I knew her body was responding to me. My problem now was how to grapple the situation without alarming her.

But either way, I wasn’t leaving this office building without a successful result.

So, here we were, having a staring throw down.

Stormy gray eyes flashed at me. They were so clear, that the gold around her pupil burned brighter. “Don’t tell me you never had the urge before that night. I won’t believe you!” Stella threw accusingly at me. Her will to fight me was admirable, but a wise person should know the most important thing when going in for a fight, and that is always know your opponent. Never take on someone who you could never win over.

At this point, I was willing to bet everything to get her.
Anything
, as long as it wasn’t falling in love.

But apart from that one solid condition, everything else was on the table, and I was willing to negotiate. After Zara, I wasn’t willing to break my six-week relationship mantra. But times were changing and I needed to re-strategize if I wanted a chance with her. If I hadn’t known better, she possibly outsmarted me, because I was like an addict, always craving her.

Had this happened to another woman, I could easily think that she had orchestrated to trap me efficiently, but this was Stella… still, I was somewhat skeptical and a tad bitter that she was making me break my well-oriented plans. “Oh, I had, trust me. But you…” I shook my head. “You’re a clever woman.” My forefinger reached out and traced the valley of her breasts, heatedly and repeatedly as our eyes sparred war with each other. “You left me wanting, Stella. It was the oldest trick in the book, but it still works.”

“Trust me, it was never like that.” She licked her lips, quivering. Her pebbled nipples outlined her dress shirt. “We exchanged favors. What you’re dealing with
now
is your own business. It’s your problem, not mine.”

Feisty, wasn’t she? I was seeing the real woman emerge amidst the calm poised façade she always portrayed, and I wanted it out.

True, she was right. This was my problem, but now I was bringing this problem to the surface, thus making it
our
problem. “You tricked me. That's my fucking problem!” I blazed on, accusing.